"You know a city's great when you can fall in love with it during a major snowstorm," my husband, Mark, observed. We'd arrived in Ottawa just as the first snowflake fell, and then watched as Canada's capital city quickly turned white. It was the first day of Winterlude—Ottawa's annual winter celebration—and the city was in a festive mood, its excitement only magnified by the storm.

Mere moments after we arrived, Mark and I donned a serious number of layers and started walking. Even when covered in almost a foot of snow, this is a walkable city. We laughed our way through piles of the white stuff, delighting in Ottawa's exuberant and rather contagious embrace of winter. As someone who lives in New Hampshire and hasn't been seduced by snow for years, I was surprised to find myself actually feeling sorry for those who live in year-round warm climes.